The first person I heard from was our nephew. He calls himself Ross. When he was little, we called him Rossi so he wouldn’t be confused with his dad.

But as he grew to manhood the little boy no longer wanted his name to end in an i. I understood his reason. My father, for whom I’m named, insisted that I be called by my middle name from birth as opposed to Edwin or Ed. This is because my dad, who was also named for his father, was called “Little Eddie” or “Eddie.” Friends who knew him as a child called him “Eddie” until the day he died at age 78.

He hated it.

But I still couldn’t help but think, as protests turned into violent riots in Charlotte last week, “I hope Rossi is OK.”

Excuse me, Ross.

Ross, who grew up in a small town on the coast, was beckoned by the big city a few years ago. He’s now close to 28, works in computer sales and has lived in Charlotte long enough to call it home. He likes the pace. He likes the nightlife. He adores the Panthers. He enjoys going downtown where the action usually is.

But the latter was no place to be in the days and nights that followed the shooting of a 43-year-old black man by a black police officer under circumstances that remained in dispute Friday. Violence erupted on at least two nights. One protester was shot and killed. Several police officers were injured.

I was worried that Ross would venture downtown to witness what was going on.

So Thursday I was relieved to hear from him. But it didn’t come by telephone call or text. It arrived via notification on Facebook. It was a feature I hadn’t seen before on the social media network. Ross marked himself “safe.” It was called a Facebook Safety Check and came from a page called “The Protest in Charlotte, North Carolina.”

And, I thought, finally a positive use for social media, normally a repository for lame political memes and appalling comments.

ONE BY ONE I began to notice more people in the Queen City marking themselves “safe.” Some live there. A few are reporters in the thick of it and in potential peril. That’s one thing the public doesn’t always get about our line of work. It’s not all dozing off at water and sewer public hearings.

I began to sort through all the Facebook “safe” notifications I received.

One was from Tom Foreman Jr., someone most in North Carolina journalism circles know as Skip Foreman. He’s worked as a sports and news writer or editor for the state’s Associated Press bureau almost since he graduated from the University of North Carolina in the early 1970s. He’s a consummate pro, which means AP sends him to sticky assignments. In the past few years, because he’s African-American, Skip has been dropped into the hottest and most dangerous places in America at the time: Ferguson, Mo.; Baltimore; and now closer to home in Charlotte.

I was glad to know that Skip considered himself “safe” — at least for the moment.

There was also a notification from Nick Ochsner, a TV news reporter for WBTV in Charlotte and an Elon University graduate. He covered events earlier in the week. “I ventured into uptown as part of a crew last night and got a taste of the violence. It’s tragic what is happening; even more so when you see it firsthand,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

A day later he made his declaration. Nick is “safe.”

OTHER NOTIFICATIONS arrived. One of my aunts who lives in Matthews is “safe.” A cousin put herself in the “safe” category, as did a spouse of another cousin. I figure if Paula is “safe” then Adam must be, too.

A friend who works in the downtown area is “safe” but said the drive home one night was a bit on the scary side. A one-time colleague who left the business for sports marketing is also “safe.” And then I noticed someone I went to high school with. He’s “safe,” too.

I was happy to hear from every one of them.

Speaking as someone who once lived in a place prone to hurricanes, this “safe” function on Facebook comes in handy. It’s an efficient way to broadcast to family and friends the most important information they can get at a time when they want it most. I can imagine it being used after tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. And sadly, it will be used during man-made ones, too.

The natural disasters can’t be avoided. I look forward to a day when we all can be marked “safe” from the disasters made by us.